In efforts to increase generation thermal efficiencies, technologies are sometimes combined, such as steam and gas turbine technology. Efforts to find other renewable energy sources to reduce dependence on fossil fuels have spawned alternate fuels including the burning of agricultural waste such as wood chips, almond shells and rice hulls to generate power. Used tires, municipal solid waste in the form of a screened mass or refuse-derived fuel have also provided fuel for power generation. In the case of municipal solid waste, the fuel has been exploited in large part to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills.
What is likely needed are ways to extend and/or augment the availability of renewable or natural resources beyond traditional system efficiency improvements, in order to prolong available energy resources and reduce the dependency on fossil fuels. In conjunction, certain methods of utilizing municipal waste and its byproducts may be preferable to ease an environmental impact of simple disposal, and also to provide a cleaner environment. Millions of gallons of effluent are produced in local wastewater treatment plants. Indeed, up to 30 million gallons per day of effluent are produced in some relatively small plants alone.
Accordingly, finding ways of using such effluent from wastewater treatment plants as an energy resource can benefit the environment and conserve resources.